The Corpse Brigadier

I tend to be pretty out of step with a lot of things with which people are fannish about, so I was pretty psyched to give jukebox_fest a whirl, as it's just really really freeing to just be able to pick up any fandom for which I might want to write or read over the course of a few minutes. I had a lot of fun picking up stuff for my recipient and for treats in this exchange, and its the sort of low-key, accessible type of exchange that I think I might aim to do more of in the future.

My Gifts

"Upon the Sands of Time" by roguefaerie (I Have the Moon - The Magnetic Fields (Song) | Narrator/Original Male Character, Teen, 1K): I have loved "I Have the Moon" ever since somebody pointed out to me that it was (allegedly) supposed to be about an unrelenting vampire pilot chasing their human lover, and that is just the right mix of wacky and tragic that warms the cockles of my black heart. I ended up receiving this very evocative, dreamy story that riffed on the line "you have become like other men" and described the whole process of trying to let go of your vampiric lover when they decide to partake of an alchemical elixir that brings them back to humanity. It captures the weary, timeless sense of immortality really well, and has a great vibe that I associate with a lot of the narratives of elders in old school VtM.

"A Moment at Twilight" by roguefaerie (Wolf Like Me - TV on the Radio (Song) | Narrator/Original Non-Binary Character, Teen, 0.4K): This was an intense little bite-sized ficlet that captured the feeling of "Wolf Like Me" in all its danceable, sexy, intensity. It features a werewolf scenting her way through a dance to a soon-to-be-werewolf lover in the middle of a heat-filled summer party. It nailed the frenetic, fast-tempoed vibes of the song and carried with it a sense of destiny and inevitability that was honestly a really cool accompaniment to "Upon the Sands of Time" by the same author.

My Works

"Mare Desiderii" for LamiaCalls (Yulia - Wolf Parade (Music Video) | Narrator/Yulia, Teen, Major Character Death, 1.5K): A sad piece about what it's like to lose the love of your life and then not be able to grieve in ways that are out of step with state-approved narratives. Contains evocative depictions of space and drowning and such.

"Wondrous Deep" for reine_des_corbeaux (Clyde Waters - Anais Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer (Song) | Willie/Margaret, Teen, Major Character Death, 1.2K): I just really really dig Childe Ballads, so I decided I would inevitably pick one to treat. This is a wholly tragic take on the tragic original, but now with more incest.

"I Faint. I Faint. I Faint." for chantefable (Štefan | Stephen - Hrdza (Music Video) | Narrator/Štefan, General, Art): I'm trying to get better at drawing, and I'm trying to vary up my styles. I ended up doing something bright and vibrant in the hopes of capturing the spirit of an upbeat Slavic traditional song.

"The Sightings That Are Made" for sweetcarolanne (The Bigfoot Scenic Byway - Lenny Green (Song) | General, 2K): This was a thoroughly endearing song that accompanied a thoroughly endearing request. It's about bigfoot communities, art communities, and finding points of connection and sympathy.

Other Neat Stuff

"Defying Convention" by weakinteraction (Telephone - Lady Gaga ft Beyoncé (Music Video) | Teen, 3.9K): This piece beautifully captures the weird, flippant, completely self-confident feel of the original music video, and it does wonderful things with original characters and the reconfiguration of Gaga, Queen Bee, and the Pussy Wagon as urban legend.

"Everything You Want" by monsoon_moon (NEW MAGIC WAND - Tyler the Creator (Song) | Original Male Character/Original Male Character, Mature, 2.9K): One of my absolute favorites in the collection. This is a hellaciously intense story of heat, sympathetic magic, names, and jealousy. It is scorchingly hot and visceral in all the best ways, and I cannot praise it enough.

As I realize the soothing pleasure I get from making lists of things, it has come to mind that I didn't post anything about in_a_peartree, all the immensely cool stuff I got, all the immensely cool stuff I made, and the sundry other immensely cool stuff I found browsing other people's trees (despite having this large parts of this post drafted since like... the 5th).

This thing was a really fun, chill experience in general, and it's the sort of thing I can definitely see doing if it runs again.

Pears Made by Me

For chacusha
( a set of FFT icons )

For evilmuffins
( A ficlet about a princess and her knight )

For ningloreth
( Five drabbles about a teddy bear and friends )

For olivermoss
( A drawing of rathany's D&D character )

For schlitzie_ramone
( Three drabbles about a cryptozoologist falling in love with a sasquatch )

For yuuago
( A drawing of a goldfish )

---

Pears Made for Me

From chacusha: An in character self-portrait of Gau (accompanied by his rad muscly dads)

From shinon: A phenomenal, poetic drabble about Cyan and Gau

From tanaqui: A fantastic short fic about the cast of Bagpuss engaging in sacrificial rituals

From theseatheseatheopensea, eggsbenedict, and ningloreth: A variety of ways to utilize my ever growing collection of basil, which has resulted, thus far, in the purchase of one cookbook and a lot of basil simple-syrup cocktails.

---

Pears I Also Thought Were Pretty Groovy

Dante/Virgil art by eggsbenedict

Mixes by fleurdeluce for general M/M pairings and general F/F pairings

An indie folk mix by muccamukk

All of flowerdeluce's picspam of trilobites that includes a number of fascinating crafts and links to them.

So yeah... my Yuletide was absolutely insane in how good it was. I loved what I made. I adored what I got. I really just feel like I won the exchange all around, and I've been left entirely psyched about my decision to get back into fandom last year.

My Gifts

"The Release of Selinuntius" by Nedrika (Hashire Melos! | Melos/Selinuntius and Melos/Selinuntius/Raisa, Explicit, 19K | Graphic Violence, Non-Con, Underage): a brilliant post-canon piece featuring tons of smut; mind-bogglingly perfect, edutaining research into the ancient world; all sorts of whumptastic descriptions of injury and angst, and a general fix-it for the less than satisfying elements of the film's end.

"He Bearing Ill Tidings" by FireEye (Final Fantasy Tactics | General, 5K): A lovely, angsty short about Alma greeting Zalbag after the events at Ft. Zeakden and confronting him over Teta's death.

"ostentatio vulnerum" by moemachina (Final Fantasy Tactics, Wiegraf/Zalbag, Mature, 9K): a pre-canon piece set during the Fifty Years War and featuring my favorite, completely bizarre rarepair (in addition to pretty much every other character in the game I deeply love); features absolutely breathtaking characterization and worldbuilding, insanely hot/awkward sexual encounters under a blasphemous icon, and the best portrayal of Boco I have ever encountered.

My Works

I wrote four stories and drew one Madness Treat. They are all Final Fantasy of some flavor, because that’s just how I roll these days.

"Poisons" for Phlyarologist (Final Fantasy VI | Teen, 2.8K | Character Death): A sort of experimental double drabble sequence examining the planned game event in which Sabin had the possibility of dying at Tzen.

"Mantra" for Phlyarologist (Final Fantasy VI | General, 2.1K): A short post-canon piece about life at Mobliz, the death of magic, and Gau’s reactions to potatoes.

Bloom for Lirillith (Final Fantasy VI | Sabin/Cyan, General, Art): I’ve joined what seems to be the increasingly exchange-active crowd of people who ship Sabin and Cyan and filled somebody’s Wrapping Paper request to draw these guys.

"Like There’s No Tomorrow" for Rethira (Final Fantasy Tactics | Delita/Ramza, Teen, 1.4K | Character Death): A post-canon Delita/Ramza piece set around the time of Olan’s execution.

"Fetters" for noahfronsenburg (Final Fantasy Tactics | Mature, 10K | Graphic Violence, Character Death): Very dark darkfic (character death and graphic violence archive warnings) focusing on Wiegraf in an AU in which he wins the boss fight at Riovannes.

Other Recommendations

"Guacamole Excitement Hyperbole" by cartesiandaemon (General, 1.6K) and "Your New Ship and You!: An Owner’s Manual" by merriman (G, 2.5K): Hilarious takes on the frustration inherent to the phone game Spaceteam.

"Metamorphosis" by Lirillith (Final Fantasy VI | Teen, 2.5K): An exploratory take on Terra in the World of Ruin.

"The Falconer" by GwendolynGrace (Ladyhawke | Etienne/Isabeau, Etienne/Bishop, Teen, 13K): A long pre-canon piece rife with historical research and messed up power dynamics.

"The Wrecking Crew" by Kahvi (Blackwell Games | Roseangela/Joey, Teen, 5.4K): Wonderfully true to canon casefic

"4.66920[...]” by karanguni (Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia | Thomasina/Septimus, General, 1.8K): Holy heck, it’s mathematically-based Arcadia fix it fic.